PROCESS

FINDINGS:

When describing the skills required to be good at their job, waterproofing professionals use sports-metaphors — saying they look for those that can “see the whole field” and “think in terms of the season, not the game”. In fact, an uncanny amount of the waterproofers we spoke to have a background in high level sports and were collegiate athletes themselves. Alliance roofing proudly employs 6 Division 1 catchers on their team, amongst a roster of other athletes.

We realized that waterproofers view a job site rather similar to something more like a baseball field. Specifically, waterproofers see themselves crouched down behind home plate; the catcher. But why? Why do these people, employed as roofers and carpenters and contractors, see themselves as a baseball team? What does waterproofing have to do with catchers in baseball?

INSIGHTS

Catchers sit behind the batter at home plate for 9 innings, 3-4 hours, their identity hidden under a mask and protective gear, to get balls pitched at them traveling speeds of 90+ MPH. They do not get the glory of the pitcher, the magazine covers or the shoe deals of the all-star outfielder; catchers go largely unnoticed and un-thanked. Yet they are inarguably one of the most important members for a team’s success, reading the field, saving runs at the plate, and calling what pitches the pitcher should throw to best elude the batter.

Waterproofing is a thankless job whose end product is hidden from view– covered up by a roof–  and whose effectiveness is only determined by a lack of failure 10 years down the line. Waterproofing is only successful as long as it goes unnoticed.

Due to the invisible nature of waterproofing, waterproofers derive their sense of pride and identity through the consistency of functioning as an indispensable player on a valued team.

NEEDS:

It would be easy to take the mask off; to shine light on the work of the waterproofers, elevating their achievements and letting the world know just how important they are. But waterproofers don’t want this. They don’t do what they do for the glory, for the fame and for the thanks. They choose to be catchers; they don’t want to be the pitcher.

Behind the mask and as part of a team is where they find themselves valuable; deriving pride from their team and their team’s collective success, from the strong relationships they have and the lively community it helped them build. Instead, from our insights we found a whole network of needs revolving around this membership and servitude.

METAPHOR:

Teams without a league.

We found that within the construction industry, there is a whole subset of specialty crews that function much like the waterproofers do, with pre-existing tight-knit units or teams. However, these teams exist in a vacuum, uncodified, unformalized, and unrecognized. With no federation or unifying body, they are simply unspoken relationships, rebels with no cause. These teams are out there, yet they have no league to fall under and legitimize their existence. Nothing to distinguish the little leaguers from the pros. They are Stanford Football with no Pac-12. Real Madrid with no La Liga. Moroccan soccer with no World Cup. There is nothing to uplift them or externally validate their existence as teams.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

●      Empower existing teams by formalizing their existence and uplifting the aspect of their work they value most.

●      Legitimize teams through creating a single network to host them under

●      Expand opportunities for teams through a streamlined network, identification directory, and hiring processes.